


Zuko of the Pokemon - Deleted Scenes

by Briar_Ruler



Series: Zuko of the Pokemon [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23813128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briar_Ruler/pseuds/Briar_Ruler
Summary: I'm working on a new version of this idea that incorporates Generation Eight Pokemon and has an actual planned plot, but I didn't want to just delete my old work, so consider this an alternate universe.
Relationships: Zuko & Pokemon, Zuko & Zuko's Crew (Avatar)
Series: Zuko of the Pokemon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682689
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or Pokémon.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko is obsessed with Pokémon. (But keep it quiet, he's 'searching for the Avatar'.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for discussion of canon genocide.

_(The Boy in the Iceberg & The Avatar Returns)_

Day 1

I blinked, staring as a bright white beam of light lit up the sky. _Whatever made that light has to be powerful. Pokémon, Spirit or something else? _Growlithe snarls uneasily, leaning against my leg. I reach down to scratch behind his ear. "What do you think?" I murmur, "We should investigate that, right?"

Growlithe gives a huffing sigh and barks his agreement. "Helmsman!" I call, pitching my voice to carry, "head a course for the light!"

Turning I walk over to where Uncle Iroh is sitting at small table with a steaming cup of tea on one side and a game in front of him. "Uncle," I inquire, "do you have any idea what that could be? If we are to make preparations for encountering the source, what caused it and what it means would be very useful information."

Uncle frowns slightly at the light before returning his attention to his tiles. "It resembles some Pokémon moves like Hyper Beam. But no, I don't believe I know the cause. Be sure to check your footing before you step, ice can look unbreakable but shatter as soon as you walk on it."

I frown in consideration before nodding, "I'll order a few soldiers to be ready to escort me tomorrow and make sure they pick proper equipment and double check their cold gear."

I pet Growlithe absently, "I'll grab dinner in the mess then I will alert the night watch to wake me if any strange events happen and try to get a few hours' sleep." I frown at the sun, "The midnight sun is a strange thing but better than the alternative."

Iroh smiles and yawns, "That sounds like a wise plan. I will go to bed soon too, a man needs his rest."

# #

Day 2

I consciously relaxed my muscles as much as possible into the ready stance that begins this drill. I''ve done this drill six times already today and it is getting frustrating but tensing up will only hinder me. I glance over at where Growlithe sit on the deck next to Uncle's chair watching. _If I had him with me I could beat them easily._ I shake the wistful thought away and breathe deeply. _But that's not the point. The point is to learning Firebending. I know I'm not a great bender, not like my sister or my father or even Uncle and I probably never will be but I can get better. Uncle is teaching me and he's the Dragon of the West, even if he is incredibly frustrating sometimes he does know what he's doing. Listen and learn and don't get angry at your soldiers. It's not their fault you're a bad bender and their training with you is very useful._

Giving a slight nod I ready myself for Uncle's queue.

"Again." before Uncles voice had fully faded I was moving.

Arms spread, fire showers my opponents. They block.

Fire-blast, aimed high, duck under. Fire-blast aimed at feet, jump away. Twist mid-air, fire one fire-blast from hand, fire one fire-blast fire from foot. Opponents jumped away. Both blasts dodged. Touch down on deck, fists raised…

"No!" I lower my arms and look towards Uncle. He has stood up. "Power in firebending comes from the breath" Iroh uses his hands to emphasize the motion of breathing "not the muscles" He stretchsd his arms out in the motion for a fire blast. "The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes: fire!"

Uncle fires a demonstration blast that dissipates before it can burn anything. "You are getting closer Nephew but you need more focus on your breath."

I roll my shoulders and breathe through the aggravation. "I will drill this sequence once more time today. After that start teaching me the next set. There is mastering the basics and then there is stagnation."

Uncle considers me as he sits back down, "Yes, you are getting better. Perhaps learning the more advanced forms will help you find fuller mastery of the basics. But for now…again!"

#

I startle as the white-yellow burst of a flare interrupts my contemplations of the iceberg scattered waters and demands my attention. Moving over to the telescope attached to the railing near me I track the flare to the shipwreck it had originated from.

"That's interesting." I muse watching as someone makes frankly impossibly jumps down the side of the ship from the command tower to the ground while holding another person wearing Water Tribe blue. _Those jumps should kill a person even if you could manage the landing without slipping. And there is no Pokémon visible. Airbending is the most likely possibility. _"Oh" I breathe as the jumper put down the Water Tribe. _And that's yellow and orange; the colours of the Air Nomads. Not wise colours to be wearing but very distinctive._

"You," I point sharply at the soldier across the deck from me, "wake my Uncle and give him a message. Tell him, I might have just found an airbender and" I double-check the direction that the pair is running in, "that they seem to be heading for a small Water Tribe village. Understood?"

The soldier nods, "Yes, Sir."

"Good, dismissed."

Frowning I turn back to the telescope as I track their progress across the ice_. It could be something else, but I've read the records about Airbenders and that matches the sort of thing Airbending is supposed to be capable of doing._

_The Fire Sages say the Avatar is the last Airbender, and it would make sense why there have been no reports of the Avatar surfacing in the last hundred years if they were some old cowardly airbender hiding from the war…the Fire Nation killed all the Air Nomads. That is what everyone and the history books say. The Air Nomads are gone, the world can't be that wrong about such a big thing, but airbending and airbenders?_

_How would one kill a whole nation of people who can fly and travel from place to place on the wind? No, formal airbending training, their history and their culture might be gone but a young untrained airbender being born to those who bare air's blood somewhere in their vein and discovering by accident a little of what they can do?_

_That I can see. Benders can be born to no-benders after all and non-benders to benders. The colonies have proven that the children of people who carry both the blood of fire and of earth can be of either fire or earth, even if it was only one of their grandparents and neither of their parents were a bender._

_Although why they would be wearing the colour of the Air Nomads is a good question. You might get away with it in the Earth Kingdom, or even the Fire Nation but in the Water Tribes with their distinct preferences for blues, purples and whites?_

I sigh. _I know what caused the flare to be fired but it is a good reason to ask questions around the village and see how they answer. And who knows why those two were in that ship in the first place, best to confirm that there are not any Fire Nation stranded here somehow. It is a good excuse to poke around and explain our presence. If they react okay I can ask about that light yesterday._

I look back up at the flare soaring lazily through the air. _Some aerial coverage would be good._

Eyes closed I breathe, _'Fletchinder, please head my call, I request your presence.' _Focusing on the Chi-bond that stretches between me and Fletchinder I sense my request pulse along it and then the returning flare of warmth and acceptance and alertness from my Pokémon. Grasping the bond I _pull_ on it, dragging the feeling of _heat-feathers-fierceness-freedom_ out of the Pokémon World and into this world as I feed it with my own chi. It comes to me easily,_ fire-and-wind-defend-my-territory_ my Pokémon's chi blending back easily to my own where they meet with the swift acceptance of long practice and deep shared love/affection/trust/companionship.

Fletchinder slides into the world, his form a shimmer of white light surrounded by swirling flames of gold, red and orange. The flame whirls across his body and died as Fletchinder's shape settles. The bird Pokémon lands on the rail ruffling his feathers and looks at me.

I smile, "Thanks. I know you're not too fond of the cold. There seems to be an airbender in the Water Tribe village over there. Could you keep an eye on them without being noticed until I am ready to land?"

Fletchinder chirps his agree and dives off the railing. He plunges towards the deck below before his golden swings snap open and he climbs into the sky with steady strokes.

"Helmsman," I call, "make sure you don't damage the iceshelf the village is on when you pull in. This is meant to be a friendly visit; partly destroying the village by arriving wouldn't make the best first impression."

Heading inside the navigation room I gesture at a nearby soldier, "Tell my escort to meet me by the prow of the ship before we stop. And tell them we are visiting a village not trekking over icebergs."

I continue forward as the soldier acknowledges my orders with a slight bow, "Will do, sir."

#

Striding onto the main deck with Luxio at my heels I head towards the rail near the prow of the ship as Fletchinder descends. I can see more of the village now and it is small. Surrounded by a medium-small wall the only permanent structure seemed to be a reasonable sized igloo while the rest of the village looked to be made up of eight tents.

Turning I call for my escort, three firebending soldiers _-Tadaaki, Kouki, Akio-_ and three non-bending soldiers _-Hyousuke, Katsu, Isuma-_ to meet me near the prow. Leaning against the railing I run a hand across Fletchinder's smooth hot feathers. "Thanks Fletchinder. The airbender is still near the village?"

Fletchinder croons his agreement leaning into my hand. "Good. Keep a look out for me okay? I don't want to suddenly end up in an ambush without warning." I give the bird Pokémon a final stroke before stepping back as Fletchninder launches himself from the rail and raises on powerful wing strokes into the sky.

I watch Fletchinder for another couple of seconds before I turn to face the escort who have assembled before me. I glance over them, assessing and checking they are properly presented and have all of their equipment. They are satisfactory prepared so I give a sharp nod.

"I know you've heard most of this speech before but remember we are not here to start a fight or frighten these people but they are not likely to welcome us. Defend yourself if attacked but don't escalate things. The village looks quite small so even if we are attacked I doubt they will have enough trained fighters to cause problems. Your lives and your comrades' lives come first but if all possible don't kill or main anyone, try to keep the civilians and children out of it and when you can minimalize the property damage." I frown, thinking about our current environment then add, "Actually be extract careful of the property damage, I doubt they made their village on thin ice but we don't want to accidently melt or crack it. I will not be pleased if we end up swimming because someone forgets we are on an iceshelf not land. That's all, understood?"

"Yes, sir." they acknowledge.

"No questions?" I querie.

There was a beat of silence as the six waited for anyone to speak up before they answer, "No, sir."

I pet Luxio, "Your Pokémon are alert and ready if needed?"

"Yes, sir." they respond firmly. _I've retrained and drilled my men extensively on working with their Pokémon so I trust that their Pokémon truly are ready to be Called into the South Pole should their aid be necessary._

The ship ground loudly against the ice, the bow ploughing slightly into the shoreline before stopping but it didn't seem to have damaged the ice further in. Checking that there is nothing in the path of the ramp I signal for the prow ramp to be dropped. We are a couple of minutes walk from the small village but that was likely a good thing. _Gives them more time to set up an ambush but it also lets them calm down. Plus I don't trust the stability of the ice if I'd tried to force the ship right up to the village, not to mention destroying their wall would be rude._

"Stop." A man yells as we approach the village. _One defender_._ Either the others are hiding to conceal their numbers or to prepare an ambush or they only have one person. He sounds young; though the face-paint makes determining age hard he looks pretty young too. _There is a pause from the man_-boy?_\- as we halt before he continues, "Why are you here? This is Southern Water Tribe lands, the Fire Nation isn't welcome here!"

I take three steps forward, Luxio following me while my guards stay put. "We are investigating the flare that went up earlier today." I call back, "Who is in charge of this village? I would like to talk to them."

"I am." comes the response. Then a question laden heavily with suspicion, "You're really just here about the flare?"

I nod, unsure if the young warrior on the wall can see the movement. "We are a research vessel not a warship. We investigate strange occurrence and try to determine what caused them. We were in the area looking for Polar dwelling Pokémon. We likely would have tried to find a village that would talk to us afterwards about the Pokémon common to the area and what they know about the native Spirits but the flare went up and as the closest ship it is our responsibility to investigate."

"If you're just a research ship then why are you all wearing armour?" the warrior asks in a tone of aggressive suspicion.

A raised an eyebrow is unlikely to be seen but my tone is completely dry in response, "We are Fire Nation. After the first couple of times people heard 'research vessel' and mistook it to mean 'undefended' and 'easy target' I decided it was worth bringing guards with me to keep from having to repel invades off the ship."

I fold my arms, flicking a glance down for a moment as Luxio's golden tail-star wiggles, ears twitches in alert, "So, the flare?"

I blink once as a blur of orange and black zooms past me before the Water Tribe warrior can respond, leaving a ditch in the snow. Pointed I did _not_ look back to see if my men have seen the same thing._ Was that a boy, a boy in Air Nomad clothing, riding a penguin? _Checking that the warrior on the wall hasn't moved, I turn, arms unfolding and follow the trail with my eyes just in time to see the penguin toss its rider off.

_Orange over shirt, check. Yellow undershirt, check. Orange belt, check. Yellow pants, check. Orange boots, check. Long wooden staff, possibly an Airbending staff, check. Shaved head, check. Blue arrow tattoo that signals airbending mastery, check. Small size, young body shape, smiling at the penguin, probably a child or younger teen. _I give the boy a slightly baffled look. _Either this is some suicidal idiot who has decided it is a good idea to pretend to be an airbender or this suicidal idiot is an airbender who thinks it is a good idea to all but shout that to the world in front of _Fire Nation_ soldiers._

_Well, even if he is an Airbender at least he probably isn't the Avatar. The Fire Sages might say that the Avatar is the Last Airbender, and I believe that it is still the same Avatar, but even Avatars aren't immune to aging and he'd be an old man not some preteen boy. If some airbenders have managed to survive, well my orders say nothing about Airbenders, only Avatars._

"You!" the warrior on the wall yells sounding furious as he points his club at the boy, "Come to greet your masters? I knew were a spy!"

The boy turns wide eyes on the warrior opening his mouth, probably to protest but I cut in, "If he's a spy, he's not mine." stomping my foot I add curtly, "It's cold and I don't want to waste my time standing around in the snow so do you know what triggered that flare or not?"

The warrior starts to splutter something but the boy turns to face me looking sheepish and asks guiltily, "Is that why you're here? I'm sorry, that was my fault."

"Oh?" I arch a brow and gesture for the boy to continue.

The boy smiles, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah, I was curious and I convinced Katara to explore the shipwreck with me but it was bobby trapped, and, um, so we accidently set off the flare." the boy looks concerned, "That's not a problem is it?"

"No." I cut him off with a sharp wave before he can continue, "I will have to check the wreck just to make sure but other than that it is fine." The boy's story matches what I'd seen with my telescope. "But" I glare, "don't do it again."

The boy gives an embarrassed smiles, "Yeah, I won't."

I nod and start to turn away before pausing, "It would be wise not to wear those so openly. I might not care about someone wearing Air Nomad clothing or even bending the wind but my father would fry you. At the very least, don't wear them around the Fire Nation."

The boy gives a puzzled frown, "Why not?"

I stop and stare. _Is this a joke?_ "Where have you the last hundred years?"

"Err," that's a look of supreme awkwardness, "apparently trapped in an iceberg?"

I stare, then pinch the bridge of my nose and turn to look at the warrior, "Is he serious?"

The warrior nods, grumpily adding, "My crazy sister broke him out of an iceberg yesterday."

I give an imploring glance to the sun, "And no-one's told him what happened?"

"Hey," the boy, the_ Air Nomad_ protests, "I only got free yesterday and I know there is a war with the Fire Nation."

"I should not be the one to tell you this." I sigh, "But seeing as you one else has, well you need to know. One hundred years ago Fire Lord Sozin's forces attacked the Four Air Temples and massacred the Air Nomads in an attempt to kill the Avatar and break the cycle of reincarnation. No-one knows what happened to the Avatar but as far as the world knows the attack succeeded in wiping out the Air Nomads. Or there are no-reports of surviving Airbenders and the Temples are empty. If any of them did survive they've hidden themselves very well and I doubt that Airbender or not you'd find them."

"Wh-at?" the boy asks eyes wide in shock, "that's not possible."

I close my eyes for just a second and remember the bones that had been scattered throughout the Air Temples. "I'm sorry, I'm Fire Nation, I shouldn't be the one to tell you this but it just isn't safe for you not to know. You-" Luxio leans against my leg, the weight of my Pokémon a grounding comfort. I shake my head. "I'm sorry."

The boy shook his head, "No. That can't have happened. The Fire Nation wouldn't. And even if they tried the Air Temples are only accessible by flying bison." He turns an imploring gaze to the Water Tribe warrior. "Sokka, tell him he's wrong. The airbenders can't be gone."

"Ar-Aang." the warrior, Sokka the boy called him, appears extremely uncomfortable, "it's true. The Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads and started the war."

"But why?" the airbender asks, wide eyed and horrified.

_That at least I can tell him._ "To kill the Avatar. Firelord Sozin knew that if Avatar Roku who had been his friend attacked him and threatened to kill him over the colonies then he'd have to act before the next Avatar was trained enough to stop him. He killed the Air Nomads because that is where the Avatar would have reincarnated after Avatar Roku's death. Also, the Air Nomads had the smallest population; it was believed that if one of the elements no-longer existed then the Avatar Cycle would be broken. The Air Nomads are the smallest Nation; they were the most logical target to disrupt the Avatar cycle."

The boy stumbles back looking sick, "The Avatar?" he whispers, "They killed the Air Nomads to get _me?_"

Concerned I frown at the aribender, "They came for the Avatar, kid, and there is nothing you could have done by being there but get killed with them. Don't blame yourself. Blame, the Fire Nation, blame the Avatar who spent the last hundred years cowardly hiding from the war, blame the other nations who stood by and did nothing as the Fire Lord's Armies marched through their territory but don't blame yourself."

"No, no," he shakes his head, "You don't understand. They came for me. For the Avatar. I ran away and they came for me because I'm the Avatar!"

The words ring across the frozen landscape as the boy trembles in front of me. I realize I had stepped back. Had stepped away from him, "You're the Avatar?" I shake my head denying the claim, "But you're just a _child_."

_He can't be the Avatar. He looks 12, maybe fourteen if you push it. The Avatar is never told until they are sixteen. The Avatar is an old man. The kid's in shock, he's just had his world up ended and he's blaming himself for it. _I nod, agreeing with my assessment. _Poor kid, even when I was banished I still knew my home is there even if I can never go back._

"I'm sorry, the Air Nomads are gone." Hesitate. _Why am I the one telling him this?_ "This must be hard to take in and I understand if you don't believe me until you see it with your own eyes." Another pause. _I'm really not good at this whole comforting people thing._ "But you're a kid. It's not your fault. Even if you did run away. There is nothing your presence would have changed. You're not the Avatar; the Avatar is told when they turn sixteen. Perhaps someone like the Avatar could have stopped one of the attacks but you're a kid, even if you're a bender, even a fantastic bender, you couldn't have saved anyone."

The kid was shaking his head again, "I'm not lying. I am the Avatar. They told me early and they wanted to move me to train me and that's why I can away." Denial radiated from every movement. "The Air Nomads can't be dead. Maybe no-one's seen them in a hundred years but we're peaceful. If there has been a war maybe they've just been staying in the Temples."

I open my mouth to speak but ended up shaking my head instead._ I've done what I can. He just needs time to process._

"You," I point at the warrior, "Sokka, right?" the Water Tribe nods but I wasn't interested in being interrupted. "I'm going to go and investigate the shipwreck and then return to my ship."

I nod sharply at Sokka, turn and walk off in the direction of the ship wreck. Luxio prowling across the snow before me and my escort following behind.

#

The trek through the snow had given me some time to think. _The boy is-I really need to find out his name- if he's authentic, a fully trained airbender. Or he should be, if the records are right, Blue Arrow Tattoos are only given to Airbending Masters. Which means he should know the bending-forms and could teach other people._

_Well theoretically, if he could find some other airbenders. Not everyone who carries Airbender Heritage could have died. Their might not be people with pure air heritage and maybe there are no airbenders currently but the potential is for the future is likely still there. I should try and record some of his forms._

I pause staring at the six legged pile of white fur. _That must be an Air Bison. It really is massive._

"Tadaaki, Hyousuke, with me. Everyone else, back to the ship." silently my soldiers acknowledge the order, four of them splitting off to head back to the ship and the other two following me as I head for the Air Bison.

"What is going on?" I ask the small crowd.

The Water Tribe children fall quiet, staring at me with large frightened eyes while an elderly woman in purple looks at me with badly concealed fear. The warrior, Sokka, glares at me but I am reasonably sure most of it is bravo. The girl next to him gives me a look of pure loathing. Sokka's sister or girlfriend, I reason, looking at his slightly protective stance in front of her. Sister, I decide, remembering that Sokka said his crazy sister broke the airbender out of the iceberg and taking in the way she's holding onto the kid.

The airbender is either oblivious to the tension or ignoring it because he turns to me with a smile on his face. "Oh. I'm going to fly Appa to the Southern Air Temple." _He still hopes there are airbenders alive. I doubt anything I say could change his mind._

"Your Bison was in the Iceberg with you?" The airbender nods patting the bison as the grin stretches wider across his face. I decide continue before he could start talking again. "Are you sure, Appa was it," the boy nods, "will be alright to make the flight?"

The boy look a little concerned and I notice the doubtful look Sokka is giving the bison. "I'd offer to let you ride on my ship to the Southern Air Temple, I've been there before, but I was in this particular area of the South Pole because yesterday I saw a beam of light shine from the ground to strike the sky."

Sokka snorts, "Figures. That was my sister."

_Interesting._ "You sister?" I inquire.

He looks alarmed _-Bet me just realized who he'd said that to.-_ but answers me with a glare. "When she broke Aang out of the ice it hit us with a gale and sent up a beam of light into the sky."

"Ah" I nod my thanks then look back at the Airbender, Aang apparently, "That was my only urgent activity here. If you would like, my ship can transport you and Appa to the Southern Air Temple. The bison should fit on the main deck and you could either sleep there with him or in a free room."

Aang smiled cheerfully, "Thanks that would be really nice of you. Appa hasn't flown since we got out of the ice and I'm a little worried about him." _He's not afraid of me at all, is he?_

"You're going with him?" Sokka exclaims.

"He's Fire Nation! What if he hurts you?" the girl glares at me before turning a worried look on Aang.

I give the girl a narrow eyed look and besides me my Pokémon give an almost inaudible grow but I'd encountered that sort of suspicion often in my travels so I nudge him subtly with my shin. Causing a scene would do us no good and I also knew that the Southern Water Tribes had been viciously raided under Grandfather's orders. _It would be worrying if they were friendly, the fear and hostility is expected._

"I have no intention of hurting either of them." I flick a glance at the airbender, "Although in future you probably should be more wary of the Fire Nation." I pause. "Aang," The airbender gives me a slightly more attentive look. Seems I was right about that being his name. "I've never seen Sky Bison before or an Air Nomad and the fact I'd be incredibly disappointed if you fell out of the sky from exhaustion and drowned before I learnt anything from you does play a large factor in why I'm willing to transport you. I can come back to the South Pole at any time to look for Pokémon, I will probably never get another chance to ask an airbender questions about Temple life."

Sokka looks like he is carefully considering my words, which is slightly surprising. The girl looks a mix of disgusted, justified and confused. Probably just confirmed some bias about no-one Fire Nation doing anything good without alternate motives but confused her about why a _Fire Nation_ person would want to learn about Air Temple life. Aang just looks happy. I'm beginning to think that's his default state.

"I plan on leaving in twenty minutes, does that give you enough time to say your goodbyes and pack anything you need?"

The airbender nods enthusiastically, "Yeah, my things are already packed on Appa." He pats the sky bison.

I turn away then pause, "Is Appa able to get onto the main deck himself or will he need help?"

"I think he can do it himself."

I nod and walk away, ignoring the argument that starts as soon as I appear to be out of earshot. My hearing seems unusually good for a human.

#

I look up at the strange whoosh of air. It seems that the Sky Bison can fly after all. Pushing Growlithe off my lap I stand to go greet them as the bison lands in the middle of the deck. Growlithe shakes out his fur and follows me. There are three figures on the Bison instead of one; it seems like the airbender is not coming alone.

"Welcome aboard." I look at Sokka and his sister as they slide off Appa after Aang. "Are you two coming as well?"

"Yes." the girl glares at me, daring me to protest it. I bristle a little because this is _my ship_ but Growlithe nudges my leg and I let it go; irritating people are a fact of life. _Perhaps I can ask them about their Pokémon?_

"Okay." she blinks, taken aback by my lack of protest. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah," Sokka nods, patting Appa's side, "all packed."

Aang grins at me, "Thanks for letting them come with me."

I shrug slightly, "It's fine." Turning towards the control tower I raise my voice, "Helmsman, set a course for the Southern Air Temple!" Turning back to my guests as the prow of the ship rises up, "Since none of us have actually been introduce but, you're Aang," I nod at the Airbender, "that's Appa," I gesture at the Sky Bison, "and you are Sokka," I point at the Water Tribe warrior, "right?" They nod, Aang enthusiastically, Sokka cautiously, "Okay. My name is Zuko."

"And she is?" I gesture towards the girl.

"My sister Katara." Sokka answers.

"Good to know." I commit the name to memory. Names are important among the nobility and it is a good habit to have. "Do you plan on sleeping on the deck with Appa or do I need to find you room to sleep in the ship somewhere?" They look uncertain so I tell them to think about it before moving onto the next topic.

"I have a few rules for guests while you are on board, which are mostly for your safety and the safety of the crew." Katara is frowning at me while Sokka looks slightly suspicious but Aang seems like he wants to exploring my ship already, "The engine room and armoury are out of bounds, you are not allowed in either of those and my crew will throw you out if they find you in either. Personal quarters are also out of bounds for privacy reasons. Besides from that, please try and keep out of my crew's way while they run the ship and listen to them if they tell you something. If you encounter something you don't recognize, please ask one of the crew instead of poking it, I would rather not ram into a glarier shelf because you managed to accidently activate the ramp lowering mechanism or something."

My lips twitch; some people would say I don't have a sense of humour, I do, it is just rather understated.

"If you are going to call your Pokémon, please do so on the main deck and stay with your Pokémon. The crew knows each other's Pokémon fairly well so a foreign Pokémon is likely to be viewed with suspicion if they turns up unexpectedly. I don't want any misunderstandings that might result in people attacking each other." I look them over, "Is all of that clear?"

I got three nods with varying levels of enthusiasm and suspicion. "Do you have any questions?" Aang looks like he has a whole bunch but Sokka beats him to it.

"Why do you call it your ship and your crew?" _Somewhat observant._ "And how come you were the one who came to talk to our village. I didn't think teenagers were normally in charge of ships in the Fire Nation."

_An intelligent question_. I cross my arms loosely, resting my weight back mostly one leg, "You are right. Teenagers are not normally in command of their own vessels but this ship is mine." I pause for a moment before continuing: the information isn't too important even if it is something I dislike talking about and I am aware that I am not a good liar so they'd figure something was up quickly. "I am currently banished from the Fire Nation on pain of death unless I complete a fool's quest or the Fire Lord decides to revoke my banishment which is even more unlikely then completely my assigned challenge."

The three of them look surprised. I give a slightly bitter smile, "Killing me would have caused an outrage, even if it was the Fire Lord who did it, so banishing me for showing 'weakness' was a convenient alternative. But banished or not I'm still a high ranking noble on a mission directly from the Fire Lord so I get a small ship and crew." I shrug, although I don't think I manage to completely hide my anger. Not that I was trying very hard to, being visible angry over problems is generally acceptable, Firebending, even harmlessly, because you are upset makes people extremely uneasy. "Things happen. I've made the best of it."

None of them look like they know what to say to that. Abruptly and unsubtly I change the subject. I don't think I'd want to hear whatever they'd have to say and losing my temper at guests on my ship would not be very polite. "We should arrive at the Southern Air Temple sometime the day after tomorrow. If it is dark when we arrive I would recommend waiting until full light to set off. I doubt the wisdom of ascending the mountains in the dark flying bison or no."

Aang nods in agreement.

"Would you like a small tour of the ship? I can also introduce you to some of the crew."

"Sounds like a good idea." Sokka nods.

"Cool, I've never been on a metal ship before!" Aang exclaims.

"Fine." Katara nods, watching me warily.

I turn to head inside then glance back at the sky bison, "Will Appa stay here on his own if the crew leaves him be?"

"Yeah, he will." Aang smiles at his bison and pats him again. "Won't you boy?" the bison sighs and settles more comfortably on the deck.

#

"And that's Uncle's table. He spends a lot of his time here so avoid it unless you don't mind being roped into playing and drinking lots of tea." I glance back at my guests who are eying everything with curiosity. "Have you decided if you want to sleep in the ship or on the deck? I've heard some people find the insides of Fire Nation ships disconcerting."

Aang rubs the back of his neck, "Umm, well it's a really nice ship but…I'd rather sleep on the deck with Appa."

"Same." Sokka and Katara nod.

I just nod and made note to tell the night watch. "Will you be eating with the crew or from your own supplies? Foreigners tend to find Fire Nation food too hot and spicy." I clarify.

"We'll eat with the crew." Sokka put in rapidly, wariness forgotten at the mention of food.

Aang looks similarly happy, "It's been ages since I last had Fire Nation food."

"Did the Air Nomads really travel that much?" I ask, curious, as I lead them towards the kitchen.

"Yeah." Aang beams, "I visited my friend Kuzon all the time."

"You were friends with someone from the Fire Nation." Sokka splutters.

"Yeah, of course." Aang gives his friend a bewildered look.

I intercede in the conversation before it could continue down that line. "Did you have any friends in the other nations?"

Aang beams again. "Yeah, in the Earth Kingdom I was friends with Bumi. He was a mad genius. Do you know we rode the mail chutes of Omashu once?"

I listen to him prattle on with half an ear. It was interesting to hear what the world was like a hundred years ago from the view of an Airbending kid but I was trying to place were I'd heard that name before. _Isn't Bumi the name of Omashu's mad King? Probably just coincidence, but this is my life so maybe not. He's probably old enough for it to be the same person._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko contemplates if the Air Nomads were trying to kill all non-Airbenders. (And the Avatar reveals himself to Zuko's Great Frustration.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for mentions of canon genocide.

_(The Southern Air Temple)_

Day 4

Walking onto the main deck with Fletchinder perched on my shoulder I am bemused to note that the airbender is either a morning person or just disgustingly cheerful all the time. Unfortunately I think it is the second. I'm used to morning people, most firebenders are, myself included, but I'm not used to people so continuously and naively enthusiastic. The last one must have been, oh Agni, Ty Lee.

Shuddering at the thought of another Ty Lee I turn my attention to the Airbender's companions as Fletchinder launches himself off my shoulder to take an aerial view of the ship. The Water Tribe girl is awake and eating the breakfast that the cook had provided with a look of deep suspicion but the Water Tribe boy is still asleep in his sleeping bag. Judging by the way the airbender is bouncing around him I don't think he'll stay that way for long.

I was right. Sokka sits up with a yelp as I approach talking range.

"Morning." I alert them to my presence. Katara gives me another suspicious look, Aang beams, "Zuko" and Sokka looks at me before attempting to jump to his feet with a yelp of "Fire Nation!" but trips over his sleeping bag incased feet and falls face first onto the deck. I smirk. Katara glares then asks sweetly, "Sokka, are you alright?"

Sokka looks at me and groans, "Oh, it's just you." I let the comment pass; his reaction to seeing me before remembering the events of the last two days was too funny for me to hold it against him. "I'm fine Katara." he grumbles, untangling himself from his sleeping bag.

Bluntly I ask Aang, "Do you want to go up there with just those two or would you like me to go with you?"

Aang looks startled.

"Err, what?" squawks Sokka.

Katara glares. _She does that a lot; at least at anything Fire Nation, she's all smiles for Aang._ "You have no right to enter Aang's home."

"I've been there before." I point out with a shrug. Everyone looks dumbfound so I explain. "Wild Pokémon often appear in remote places and there are few places more remote then the Air Temples. Sure they're not _easy_ to access but it's nothing that would deter a sufficiently determined person."

"But there are Wards to keep out Pokémon." Aang protests.

"Yeah," well obviously, everywhere had Wards like that, "but the Temple's on top of a mountain. There's nothing to stop you from climbing the mountain to get there. I mean some of the cliffs are incredibly sheer and finding the Temple itself is a challenge but if you go in a small groups and bringing the right equipment you're not even that likely to die. Half the problem is insuring you have enough supplies."

That got me three really weird looks. Honestly, what did they expect? I'd needed to visit the Air Temples, so I did. Even when I think I understand people it turns out I don't. I shrug, "So am I going with you or not? I've never ridden a Sky Bison before." I slant a glance at Aang. "Plus I'm sure you could explain some of the architecture, I just didn't really understand some of the monk's choices."

"Oh... I'd have to bring two people as my escort. Uncle gets worried when I wander around on my own." I look at the sky bison. "Appa would be fine carrying six people, right?"

Aang puffs up, "Appa's great. He can carry six people easily. Can't you buddy." He pats the bison. Pausing, he seems to actually slow down and think for a moment before he smiles again. "Sure you can come with."

I turn around waving over Tadaaki and Hyousuke, the firebending and non-bending soldiers who will be accompanying me on this trip. They are my most trusted crewmen and I'd told them what I might be doing the night before so they were already prepared.

A quiet, fierce argument has broken out behind me as I make my way over to Lieutenant Jee, my ship's caption. "I am going to the Air Temple with them. We will probably be gone for the whole day so the men can spend some time off the ship if they like. I trust you to use your own judgment in how to deal with anything that might turn up in my absence."

"Yes, sir." he raises his hands; one curled into a fist and held just below the palm of the other which is held straight up, forming the flame in acknowledgement.

I made my way back over to the three youths, it seemed that Aang has won their brief argument from the way he smiles and Katara glares. Sokka has found breakfast and is too busy eating to pay much attention to anything else.

"Everyone, climb on Appa." Aang calls happily as he casually airbends himself onto the bison's head. The two Water Tribe teens are closest so they scramble on first. I glance at the setup and then lunge myself easily up the bison's side and into the saddle. My two escorts exchange a look before gamely, although with much less dignity, making their own way up.

"Everyone ready?" Aang asks from where he is sitting on the bison's head with the bison's reins in his hands. I make sure I have a firm grip on the saddle which is a good thing because the next second Aang calls, 'yip-yip' and the bison lurches, then pushes off, tail slapping as he takes to the sky.

We raise surprisingly quickly, the bison turning and making his way towards the mountain range. The Water Tribe boy gives a whoop of excitement before falling silent with a slight blush but I don't think my escorts are nearly as excited as the kids are to be flying, they look rather tense.

Fletchinder soars alongside us for a moment and I smile before Recalling him. Wards could sometimes be a little tricky and while after a hundred years of no-one living in the Air Temples the Wards should have dissipated I don't feel like chancing it in a place that had been so soaked in violence at the very end. Death to violence, murder or self-sacrifice, especially were no-one had payed due respect to the dead could do strange things to Wards.

Flying on a sky bison wasn't really like anything else I'd ever done before but the view was magnificent. Hopefully some day I'd be able to fly on one of my Pokémon like this.

Aang is talking as we flew up the mountains, "The Patola Mountain range We're almost there!"

I nod absently trying to place the view from sky bison compared to the view on foot. We hit the clouds and go through them and way too close to the mountain. Everyone else is rather tense except for Aang but even in the unlikely event that it turned out that he can't steer properly then the sky bison should be smart enough to keep us from crashing.

We fly over a tree covered ridge and suddenly the Temple is visible. _Sometimes I'd wondered if the Air Nomads had deliberately tried to kill any visitors but I think I just wasn't something they'd thought about._ "There it is. The Southern Air Temple."

"Aang, it's amazing." Katara exclaims and I have to agree with her, if nothing else the airbenders had lived in breath-taking buildings.

"We're home, buddy!"Aang calls to Appa and I felt a twist of regret. He sounds so happy. "We're home."

Appa goes into a gradual dive, landing in a flat, clear, snow covered spot. This high up and close to the South Pole it is cold. Aang doesn't seem to be affected by it. For that matter he didn't seem bothered wearing only his normal clothes at the South Pole._ Perhaps Airbenders have a trick to deal with the temperature?_

"Come on!" Aang exclaims jumping off Appa, a small twist of airbending lightening his landing. "There's so much to show you!"

I slide down the side of Appa and roll off while Sokka and Katara scramble down. One of my escort might have groaned something that sounded like 'teenagers' as they got off with a bit more of a thump. Armour is heavy, but worth it.

Aang has run up the path while Sokka and Katara run after him. I follow at a jog, listening to the thud of footsteps as my escort follow me. No use in exhausting myself running everywhere, the three make enough noise that it is easy to follow them.

"So that's where my friends and I would play airball," I round the corner that Aang's exited voice issued from behind to see him pointing at the many tall poles that made up a stadium and had baffled me slightly when I first saw them. "and over there" he continues "is where the bison would sleep, and…"he trails of sadly with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Katara asks but I am pretty sure I already know.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds." he looks around sadly, "I can't believe how much things have changed."

"There might still be a few flying lemurs around." I offer, "I think I saw some on my trip through here and that was only a year and a half ago."

"Oh," he looks at me with big hopeful grey eyes, "You think so."

"Probably." I shrug slightly uncomfortable with such a look directed at me. I nod at the stadium of poles, "So you played airball on those? I wondered if they were for some sort of training when I saw them the first time."

"Yeah!" he brightens immediately and starts to ramble on about how to play. It sounds like it was a game played by airbending. _Which made sense; I think all of the nations have at least one game that can only be played with your element. For the Air Nomads who were said to be all benders, the only nation without non-benders, it made sense that bending would see a lot of casual, everyday use. In fact the Temples can be rather dangerous to the unwary wanderer or just extremely difficult to navigate and I don't think all of that comes from damage to the Temples. I also don't think it is deliberate but the Temples were built with the expectation that everyone in them would be an airbender so they can cause trouble for those without the ability to bend air._

Aang has moved to the other side of the path with Katara but I notice Sokka moving closer to me. Curious, I wave for my escort to go ahead, "What are you going to do when Aang finds evidence of the Fire Nation invasion?" he asks me quietly.

I hmm and continue after the rest of the group as I consider my answer. "I don't think he will find any."

He gives me an incredulous look. I respond with a small shrug, "As I said, I've been to this Temple before. There is surprisingly little evidence that the Air Nomads were attacked. After a hundred years it is hard to tell what damage comes from time and neglect and what might have come from a battle. The weather has worn away any ash marks so things look for the most part like the Air Nomads just up and vanished one day."

I pause, considering, before adding, "There were a few skeletons and sets of armour lying around some parts of the temple when I first came here but it seemed disrespectful to leave them scattered around like that." I grimace, "I collected them and held a funeral ceremony before cremating them and scattering the ashes on the winds. Hopefully that would help settle any restless spirits tied here from a lack of proper sending. I couldn't tell the Air Nomads from the Fire Nation often so I had to do them together."

He looks thoughtfully at me but nods and we move to catch up with the rest of the group. Aang is standing in front of a monk's statue. "Hey guys!" he calls happily, "I want you to meet somebody."

I look the over the statue in interest as Sokka asks the obvious question, "Who's that?"

"Monk Gyatso!" Aang explains proudly, "The greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know." He looks at the statue, thoughtful and sad before bowing to it in respect.

Raising my hands I form the flame, one hand help upright, the other hand in fist placed below the palm on my first hand, and give a small bow of in respect. I recognize that rather distinctive pendent from one of the airbender skeletons. There had been a lot of dead Fire Nation soldiers around him and if he had been a teacher-mentor along with capable combatant that only made him a more honourable bending master.

Katara places a hand on Aang's shoulder, understanding in her tone, "You miss him."

"Yeah." the airbender sounds downcast as he walks away but I couldn't blame him. I would handle losing Uncle badly.

Curious Katara looks after him, "Where are you going?"

"The air temple sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet." That rouses my own curiosity and I follow him up the steps. The other four start after us. I've seen the Air Temple Sanctuary doors before but I hadn't tried to open them. I know they require airbending, like the ones on Crescent Island require Firebending, to open.

Katara moves past me, "But Aang, no one could have survived in there for a hundred years."

Aang sounds hopeful, "It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long."

While that's true I doubt there is anyone alive in there but I am curious as to why he thinks he should be opening the Sanctuary does to meet someone; I don't think it was something people normally did.

"Good point." Katara admits.

Aang looks hopefully at her over his shoulder, he sounds excited again, "Katara, whoever's in there might help figure out this Avatar thing."

The Water Tribe siblings gave me and my escort suspicious looks but I just frown. Sokka pushed at the door, eying me warily as he asks Aang, "I don't suppose you have a key?"

"The key, Sokka, is airbending." Aang says, seemingly oblivious to the strange tension that had overcome the two Water Tribe. I watch in interest as he takes a deep breath, spread his arms and thrust them forward, sending air into each of the tubes in the door. I hadn't seen him do any complicated airbender before and it was interesting. He must have done it right for the door swung open.

"Hello?" Aang calls with a hand to his mouth, "Anyone home?"

No answer and the three advanced slowly in. I indicate my escort should wait at the door while I follow them inside.

"Statues? That's it." Sokka sounds rather disappointed but this was about what I expected.

"Who are all of these people?" Katara asks. _I could tell her they were past Avatars but I am curious how much they would figure out on their own._

"I'm not sure." Aang sounds pensive. "But it feels like I know them somehow. Look! That one's an airbender."

"And this one's a waterbender." Katara points. "They're lined up in a pattern: air, water, earth and fire." They all seem to have forgotten that I am in the room with them.

"That's the Avatar Cycle."

"Of course. They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang." _That again._ I frown. _Why did they think Aang is the Avatar?_

"Wow! There are so many!" Aang exclaims before wandering further among the statues.

Sokka at least sounds sceptical, "Past lives? Katara, you really believe in that stuff." although unfortunately about the wrong thing.

"It's true. When the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle." She moves over to Aang who has stopped to stare at one of the statues. Grabbing his shoulders she shakes him, "Aang! Snap out of it."

It seems like the statue's eyes had gleamed with a spark of white light for a moment. Unfortunately I very much recognized who it depicted. While I might have dismissed the gleam as a trick of the light from another statue I viewed _that_ statue with much suspicion.

"Huh?" Aang sounds daze which was strange but Katara distracted me with the question she asked, "Who is that?"

I frown in distaste but Aang's answer jerks me out of my thoughts, "That's Avatar Roku. The Avatar before me."

Sokka had clearly heard that as he walked over, "You were a firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."

Katara however asks a question I am more interested in, "There's no writing. How do you know his name."

"I'm not sure. I just know it somehow." I look at Aang. _He _cannot_ be the Avatar._

Seems like Sokka doesn't have much patience for spiritual matters. "You just couldn't get any weirder."

"Why are you all talking like Aang is the Avatar?" I demand, finally sick of listening to them. They startle quite badly, Aang's jump was impressive but I wasn't in the mood to entertained by their reaction.

"Zuko," Aang hesitates for half a second, glancing at his friends, "It's because I am the Avatar."

I cross my arms and stare flatly at them, "You can't be, the Avatar vanished a hundred years ago. If he's still the same incarnation he'd be over a hundred by now."

Aang looks sheepish and guilty, "I am the Avatar. That's why no-one as seen the Avatar for the past hundred years, because I was frozen in an iceberg."

"No, no, no. You can't be the Avatar." I put my face in my palms. _He _cannot _be the Avatar_. "Why are you even telling me this?"

"Because I don't want to lie." he sounds so earnest. "I run away a hundred years ago and abandoned my responsibilities when the world needed me. Well the world needs me now and this time I'm not running away."

I groan. "Leave."

"What?" Aang is confused.

I glare at them. "If you really are the Avatar then leave. Now." They still looked confused. Frustrated I snarl out a lick of flames. They flinch back, Sokka reaching for his club. As calmly and clearly as possible while I am holding onto the edges of my temper I tell them why. "I told you the Fire Lord banished me with an impossible quest. That quest was To. Capture. The. Avatar."

_Breathe._ "So. If. You. Are. Really. The. Avatar. Then. You. Need. To. _Leave_."

"If your job is to capture the Avatar then why are telling us to leave instead of trying to capture us right now?" Sokka asks, suspicious, hand on his club.

I strangle down exactly that urge and flex my fingers to keep from accidently creating fire daggers. "Because I try to be a good person or at least an honourable one. And you're children. The Avatar is a child." I feel something heavy settle over me. "I welcomed you as my guests without deceit. It would be wrong to attack you while you believed yourselves under my protection."

"So leave." I know I sound more exhausted, tired, sad, resigned then I should. "I don't want to do this but I am loyal to the Fire Nation. For the sake of the Fire Nation I _must_ capture you. My honour demands it. I searched for two and a half years for something I never believed I'd find and now you stand right before me."

"So run, Avatar. Run. Because I will hunt you until the ends of the world if I have to and I won't stop. Don't waste this chance and don't betray it. I am supposed to capture you alive to take to the Fire Lord. My orders say nothing else. So run, hide, be careful because I will not be the only one hunting you once the world knows of your return and many will be much less honourable then I."

"Zuko." Aang takes a cautious step forward but Sokka stops him. "Aang, I think we should leave him be. It's costing him a lot to let us go like this and we shouldn't throw that away."

I breathe, in, out, in as they leave the room then snarl and snap a wave of fire through the air. The Avatar, if they weren't delusional, had been right there before me, ripe and ready for me to take and I had let him go. He was a child and he had trusted me and it would have been so _easy_. It was the right thing to do but how it burned to let a chance to return home slip right through my fingers.

Lips pressed together in a thin line I stalk out of the sanctuary. Breathe. I look at my escorts, "We will to have decide exactly what we will tell people before we leave."

_Tadaaki and Hysousuke will lie for me. They are deathly loyal. No-one will learn that I willingly let the Avatar go unless he or his friends tell someone._

"But for now I think we should work on how we are going to get down the mountain in good time." Grimacing I remember the thin bridges and sheer drops. Perhaps the worst danger was the sheer distance you needed to traverse to leave the mountain range. _If all Air Nomads couldn't fly I'd think this place was a deliberate death trap but no, it's accidental, we are just the unlucky visitors who can't airbend themselves out of trouble if we slip._

#

By some miracle – _Alright, it was less a miracle and hiking through dangerous terrain to get out from the Air Temple's Wards, sending Fletchinder to fly back to the ship once we were clear of the Wards to check if there were any Wards between our mountainous location and the ship. Then careful use of Kirlia's Teleport combined with our familiarity and connection to the ship's Wards._ \- we make it back to the ship by dusk.

Tadaaki and Hyousuke both have a an arm wrapped around me, the other holding one of Kirlia's hands as I carry Kirlia while gripping their forearms. Appearing in a huddle while I hug my Pokémon isn't a very dignified way to return to my ship but it is the safest and easiest way for Kirlia to Teleport all of us. My frown combined with the unexpectedness of our return method keeps anyone from laughing.

Tadaaki and Hyousuke disentangle themselves from me and I place Kirlia gently on the deck, "Thanks for the help Kirlia. Do you want to stay?"

He shakes his head, "Kirlia." _"Tired." _and the fading white glow of a Pokémon Recalled.

Satisfied that my Pokémon as been cared for I turn to address the crew who has been gather on deck since we Teleported back, "The Airbender opened the Temple sanctuary and told me he is the Avatar. They fled when they learned my mission is to capture the Avatar. We will be following them until we capture the Avatar unless we find some proof he's not the Avatar."

# #

Day 5

Hyousuke, Katsu, Isuma, Akio, Kouki and Tadaaki are lined up in front of me.

"We are refreshing our knowledge of Pokémon Types today followed by Pokémon sparring." _Ideally Pokémon battles are done with sound strategic and tactical knowledge of Pokémon. Despite being the youngest person on board this this ship I have the best working knowledge of Pokémon._ "Hyousuke, which Pokémon Types do Airbenders form Match-Type Chi-Bonds?"

"Flying Types and Ghost-Types, sir."

"Correct. Katsu, which Pokémon Types do Waterbenders form Match-Type Chi-Bonds with?"

"Water-Type and Ice-Type, sir."

"Correct. Akio, which Pokémon Types do Non-benders form Match-Type Chi-Bonds with?"

"Normal-Types and Fighting-Types, sir."

"Correct. Isuma, which Pokémon Types do Firebenders form Match-Type Chi-Bonds with?"

"Fire-Type and Electric-Type, sir."

"Correct. Kouki, which Pokémon Types do Earthbenders form Match-Type Chi-Bonds with?"

"Ground-Type and Rock-Type, sir."

"Correct. Tadaaki, what which Pokémon Types are the universally Neutral-Type Bonding Pokémon?"

"Bug-Type, Dark-Type, Dragon-Type, Fairy-Type, Poison-Type, Psychic-Type, Steel-Type, sir."

"Correct." _If they had gotten any of that wrong I would have been concerned_

I smile, sharp and dangerous, "Choose a single Pokémon as if you were anticipating battling an Airbender."

The space between us lights up sparking white as we Call our Pokémon. The anticipatory glee of a Pokémon ready to test their strength and cunning against a worthy opponent thrums through my Chi-bonds as the glow die down before me. Today's training will be_ fun_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko would rather not burn down neutral villages. (So that's the Avatar State?)

_(The Warriors of Kyoshi)_

Day 11

I stare at the map with the wildly zig zagging markings of Avatar sightings and flatly announce "They're lost aren't they." Considered this proclamation for a moment, "That or the Airbender got distracted by something."

Sighing I stand by the map trying to pick what the ship's route should be today. _How do you track someone who is travelling at whim or completely unable to read a map or Angi help us all _both_._

"My lord." A servant _-Tadashi-_ bowed to me, distracting me from my thoughts.

Curious as to why he has interrupted I look at him, "Yes?"

"I heard a rumour while buying fish that the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island."

I frown, "Thank you for telling me. Are we restocked with everyone back on board?"

"Not yet, my lord. But I believe we can be ready to leave port in half an hour."

"Good." Course of action decided. "Make sure that everything is ready to leave then tell me when it is done. I will alert the helmsman to our new course."

#

I watch the vanishing fin warily. _The Unagi is interesting but I am hunting the Avatar right now._

"Remember." I remind my men as the ramp is lowers, "We are here for the Avatar, alive, and the Avatar alone."

"Understood." They acknowledge while making the flame, one closed fist held below the palm of the other hand that is held straight up.

_The ship's 3 komodo rhinos-rarely do I regret replacing one of the komodo rhinos with an ostrich horse but then it isn't often that a show of Fire Nation force is more helpful to my goals then quick, subtle travel through the Earth Kingdom- 2 men mounted on each Rhino. 3 firebenders, 3 non-benders, Benders paired to non-bender on each mount and all of them trained for this. I know they've trained for it; I did some of that training myself._

Walking down the ramp I wait until I am on the island itself and thus past the majority of the wards before I Call Fletchinder. _Kyoshi Island is strange in that the most powerful Wards covered the whole island; while the village itself has Wards too they will be closer to standard for the village's size and thus not presenting much of a problem. I suspect it has something to do with the island having been turned into an island by an Avatar but there wasn't much in the way of examples for comparison._

Smiling at the fiery bird perched on my arm is reflex. "Fletchinder, you know what the Bison looks like, if it is here then find it please."

Fletchinder gives a piecing cry and I fling him up, his wings catching on air to shoot him into the sky. I carefully watch him for the signal that he has found what we are seeking. _I would have liked to have Fletchinder scout ahead before we land but the Island Wards render that inadvisable._

He dives then swings back up trailing a banner of fire. It wasn't very subtle but it was easy to see from a distance it was unlikely we had held the element of surprise in the first place. _A decommissioned warship, no matter how small and outdated the model, _isn't_ subtle._

I step to the side as my men urge their komodo rhinos down the ramp. Katsu and Isuma continue forward but Hyousuke stops his komodo rhino besides me. Tadaaki stretches out his arm, palm open and calls softly, "Go Rapidash."

White light scattered with orange and yellow shimmers in front of me resolving into the shape of a horned horse with cream coloured fur and orange flames. I walk up to Tadaaki's Rapidash, stroking his nose once as he nuzzles me, then I place my hands on his back and vault astride. I settle easily onto the Pokémon's back, his flaming mane warm against my front instead of burning, a sure sign that Tadaaki and his Rapidash trust me.

"Forward." I command quietly and with subtle movements of my body. Rapidash trots after the two komodo rhinos in front of me._ Rapidash is not my Chi-bonded Pokémon so I will never have the same effortless synchrony that he and Tadaaki possess but he is intelligent and trained to respond to a combination of vocal commands and body ques_. Hyousuke and Tadaaki take up rear-guard behind me on their shared komodo rhino.

Riding towards the village I glance up again to confirm Fletchinder's position. He's still circling over the village. _Avatar Kyoshi's statue. _I will admit it is a beautiful piece of art with the bright green dress and golden fans.

Katsu and Isuma ride through the fence gateway and peel off to halt with a space between their komodo rhinos. Rapidash trots through and then around Avatar Kyoshi's statue before stopping three body lengths away from the start of the village's open street.

"Avatar" I project my voice to carry, "I know you are here. Come out."

I pause for a moment but there is no movement, "I have no quarrel with the people of Kyoshi Island and would much rather not fight in their streets but if you insist on hiding I will find you. So come out. It is not right to drag a civilians and neutral forces into this but if you refuse to reveal yourself do not think that I will halt my search just because you use them as a shield."

I sweep my gaze across the village. It isn't practically large or small. It has a single wide street that leads up the building at the top of the slop and a row of 6 houses on each side.

"Warriors and Civilians of Kyoshi: I do not wish you harm. Stand aside. Do not fight me. Do not hinder my search for the Avatar and I swear that neither I nor my men will harm you. Attack us and we will be forced to defend ourselves."

I wait again as Isuma and Katsu direct their komodo rhinos up beside me. Hyousuke and Tadaaki remain seated on their Komodo Rhino closer to the gate. They are our back up in case we are forced to retreat.

"As the Avatar refuses to show himself we must search for him." I keep watch over the motionless village as I give the order to my men, "Find him." A split seconds hesitation, "Wait, Katsu, you and Akio will search on foot."

Akio then Katsu dismount and Katsu passes me the reins. I wheel Rapidash around with a murmur of "Turn" and "Forward" to trot back to Hyousuke, komodo rhino following. I pass the reins to Hyousuke then trot Rapidash back to the beginning of the street.

As soon as Rapidash halts I call for Luxio. He solidifies from shining white light sparked with yellow by Rapidash's front left leg. He's around half tall as the Pokémon I am riding; a cat like Pokémon with short blue fur covering much of his body, a black mane of fur, black hind quarters and a tail that ends in a yellow four point star.

Isuma's and Kouki's komodo rhino is partway up the street, Kouki's Sunflora is perching on the animal's back holding into the saddle with one leaf shaped arm while keeping watch for attacks from behind or above. Isuma's Furret is scouting ahead. Closer to my end of the street Akio and Katsu are walking in diamond formation with their Pokémon; Katsu's Groyle at the front, Akio and Katsu behind and to the sides with Akio's Elekid bringing up the rear.

_I'd like to be leading the search myself but know I'm a priority target. As much as I don't want to risk my men it is safer for everyone if I bring up the rear so if I am attacked and overwhelmed they can retreat back to me instead of having to fight forward to reach me. This also allows me a better overview of the situation. _I pet Ponyta absent. _They will call for me when they spot Aa-the Avatar and Ponyta is _fast_._

"Roofs!" I shout, seeing a flash of rapid movement. A green-clad warrior with a Beedrill flying before her had leapt of one of the roofs aimed towards the komodo rhino. Another jumped down almost on top of Katsu with a Croagunk behind her.

Sunflora had noticed them first, before me, and opens his mouth firing a short barrage of glowing yellow seeds at the approaching warrior and her Beedrill. **_Bullet Seed._** The Beedrill is forced to abort its attack and dodge instead. The warrior blocks most of the seeds with her fans but her attack is disrupted. She knocks Kouki off the Komodo Rhino more by gathered momentum then any structured attack. It seems unlikely that she had intended to land with Kouki mostly atop her, as he'd grasped her when she rammed him and flipped their positions around.

Katsu is force to roll back, ducking a blow and gaining some distance from his attacker. The Croagunk shouts in a rather startling fashion as it attacked Grovyle. _Maybe __**Astonish**__?_ If it was **Astonish** then it didn't succeed in making Grovyle flinch because he immediately retaliates with **Pound**. Katsu rises out of his roll spear slicing towards the warrior's leg. She dodges and Katsu uses that time to stand.

Isuma has pulled his komodo rhino to the side, away from where Kouki and the warrior have fallen for fear of accidently trampling them. Furret is bounding towards the two grappling on the ground when a Scraggy leaps out of nowhere in a **Feint Attack**. Furret tumbles across ground in a blur of dust. Coming to a stop he scrambles to his feet in time to swipe Scraggy with claws sharpened by **Scratch**. A Kyoshi Warrior landed in front of the komodo rhino as Isuma aimed his spear towards the Scraggy. Isuma jabs the spear at her but she sidesteps and yanks it from his hands. I could all but see his mental shrug as urges the komodo rhino into a charge. The warrior dives into a sideways roll avoiding the charge. Isuma pulls the komodo rhino's head away from her. It swings into a sudden turn, tail whipping around. The tail strikes the warrior in the stomach and flings her off her feet to collide heavily with a wall.

A warrior runs out from between houses, using her fans to dissipating the fire-blasts Akio punches at her. Elekid's plug-horns turn white and the golden stars of **Swift** launch towards the warrior. Some of them hit her but others strike the Wobbuffet that has bounced out of the alley after her. Wobbuffet responds with **Counter**.

I am distracted from my soldiers' fights by a Kyoshi warrior with a distinct yellow headdress charging towards me with a Meditite at her side. Luxio uses **Leer**. I breathe in deep, focusing on my fury at the attacks against my men to fuel my inner fire, raise an arm palm out and launch a large fire blast. They split in different directions to dodge.

Luxio lunges teeth shining with the power of **Bite. **Meditite's palm makes contact with Luxio's chest. Luxio's jaws close around Meditite's other shoulder. Meditite's **Force Palm **activates. Luxio goes flying sideways away me in a blast of yellowish-white light dragging Meditite along with him as he refuses to loosen his jaws.

"Dodge." Tadaaki's Pokémon knows this command very well darting away from the approaching warrior to prance out of reach. I swing one leg over and slide down to stand on the opposite side of Rapidash to the warrior. "**Quick Attack**."

Rapidash springs towards the warrior trailing white light and covering the distance in seconds. She had no chance to dodge.

An Aipom landed behind me and lashes out with its tail-hand, the finger nubs glowing the white of **Scratch**. Not able to completely move away in time instead I fall forwards and roll with the force of the attack, cursing my helmet. _Great for intimidation and keeping my head from being smashed in. Not so good for detecting attacks from behind. _I continue the roll back into my feet and turning as I rise to face my new opponent with a blast of fire.

"Growlithe!" I Call my Pokémon, materializes in the wake of the flames. The warrior yelps and disperses my fire-blast with a sweep of her – _his?_ – fan. Growlithe charges as the flames dissipate and fire engulfs his body. He crashes into the unprepared Aipom with **Fire Wheel**.

I thrust my other arm forward with another fire blast. Fan sweep. Side kick fire-blast. Fan sweep. Palm a fire blast toward their feet. Frantic skip backwards. Kick ground wave of fire. Jumps. Side palm fire strike. Hits them as they attempt to land. Opponent on the ground.

"Hey! Zuko! Over here!" Aang's voice. The Avatar's voice. Keeping an eye on my opponent I look for the source. He's standing at the beginning of the street no more than seven meters from me. "It's me you want, isn't it."

"Finally!" At least one house is on fire, possibly two. I stalk towards him. A small, rounded green Pokémon with a yellow flower on its head_ –Skiploom, a Grass/Flying Pokémon. Evolution of Hoppip, capable of evolving into Jumpluff.– _stands next to him while a small purple balloon like Pokémon _Drifloon, Type Ghost/Flying, capable of evolving into Drifblim. – _floats on his other side.

"Yes. The Avatar is my mission." Isuma is still on his komodo rhino. I can't see the Beedrill anywhere but Sunflora is also absent. Kouki seems to be tying his opponent to one of the wooden support poles of a house's veranda so they must have won.

"Surrender." I demand. _Do we have to fight right in front of the town? Flames take it all, I don't _want_ to harm innocent people. And if we fight here my fireblast are liable to set something on fire. Does he has no awareness of his surroundings? In front of wooden buildings is not a good place to fight a firebender unless you want them to burn._

"No." Holding his staff he a ready position he looks pleadingly at me, "This is wrong Zuko. Call of your men." _I__t's a fight then._

Experimentally I launch a series of frustrated fire-blasts. The airbender whirls his staff in a rapid circle dissipating the flames. Besides him Skiploom shakes itself, realising a cloud of sparkling orange powder into the air. **_Stun Spore_**. A moment later Drifloon tilts its head towards me and spins, sending a wave of purple tinted wind towards me. **_Ominous Wind._**

**Ominous Wind** catches **Stun Spore **blowing faster towards me. Both my arms move in a sweeping-pushing gesture, creating a wave of fire that ignites the **Stun Spore** before it can affect me. **Ominous Wind **buffets me but grimacing I bare through it and send two fire-balls towards Aang. He dodges to the side. The fire balls continue past and set the building behind him on fire.

Aang gives the building a dismayed look as Skiploom and Drifloon land on the opposite side of me. Out of the sky falls a deadly blur. It strikes Skiploom with great force then Drifloon in the same movement and is already back in the air circling high above me before anyone fully processes what has happened. Skiploon flinging through the air until it collided with a building. Drifloon sent spiralling uncontrollably into the air.

Fletchinder, unnoticed or ignored by all combats as he circled above the village had not been idle. Speed boosted by use of **Agility **he waited until Aang appeared. Once he saw I was committed to combat he targeted Aang's Pokémon with deadly use of **Acrobatics**. The Pokémon never stood a chance.

I close the distance rapidly between Aang and me while he stares in wide eyed shock. Out of the corner of my eye of see the knocked out Skiploom and Drifloon dissolve into motes of white light as they instinctively returns to the Pokémon World to stabilize and heal. Pokémon are remarkably durable like that. A knocked out Pokémon may take a few days to recover but as long as its partner is alive and relatively healthy so it can draw on their Chi to heal it will do so.

_Oh shit._ I am reaching out to knock the staff from Aang's hands and seize his wrists when I notice the white glow lighting up his eyes from edge to edge and all his airbending tattoos._ I've been studying the Avatar for over two years, I've read the scrolls, heard the stories, I know what that means._ _The Avatar State._ I change the direction of my hand, aiming to knock out the Avatar instead of restrain him as I yell, "Cover!"

A blast of wind flings me away as the Avatar rises, glowing and surrounded by increasingly forceful winds. I crash into the ground and skid across it rolling uncontrollably before my momentum is spent leaving me somewhere near the gate.

_Glad I don't hit the komodo rhinos. _Is my first dazed thought after _Hurts_. Recalling why I am lying dazed, breathless and in pain on the ground I roll into my hands and knees.

The wind whips strands of my hair around, helmet having being dislodged at some point during by the tumble but my top-knot still holds. The Avatar is floating at the same height as the statue; gale force winds snapping try branches, dragging off damaged bits of buildings and threatening to drag people and Pokémon into it. Chunks of the ground have been ripped up and are being flung at Fletchinder who is dodging frantically. Sheer speed is the only thing saving my Pokémon.

My breathe catches for a moment in raw fear but grim determination follows on its heels. I want little more than to recall Fletchinder but he is holding his own and I am unsure of what the Avatar would do if his current focus simply disappeared. Instead I assess the situation.

Growlithe has dug in claws into the ground and braced himself but he is still being slowly dragged in by the winds. Luxio being further away is having a better time resisting. Hyousuke is three meters away from me and the komodo rhinos are restless but haven't fled. Tadaaki has dismounted and is approaching me. Rapidash is nowhere in sight so I assume he has been Recalled. Isuma is mounted on his komodo rhino and they in front of the large house, as far away as possible from the Avatar. Akio, Kouki, Katsu and their Pokémon are not visible so I assume they took cover per my last frantic order and general survival instinct.

I reach for the _fire-fur-loyalty_ of Growlithe's Chi-bond and the _lightning-claws-loyalty_ of Luxio's Chi-Bond Recalling them. They turn into colour-flecked white light and vanish. As Tadaaki kneels besides me I close my eyes and turn all my focus on the _fire-wind-feathers-loyalty_ of Fletchinder's Chi-Bond. I gather up my own Chi and press it into the Bond with a single order _Flee_ wrapped around impressions _direction/path_ and intentions _away/deserted/to the Ward's edge_.

With a screech Fletchinder dodges a rock and accelerates in a straight line. I feed my Chi into the Bond, boosting my Pokémon's Chi to has high has it can safely go. He flies over a mountain ridge as a blur trailing light. Ripping through the air, the Avatar follows.

I slump slightly in relief but kept my attention tightly focused on the Bond. Fletchinder is moving extremely rapidly away and I am certain he has a good lead on the Avatar. Knowing that the Kyoshi's Wards would be soon approaching I grip the Bond tight and Recall Fletchinder.

Pokémon safe I groan as the pain I have been ignoring catches up with me.

Tadaaki helps me to my feet. "We're leaving." I tell him.

He nods and gives a piercing whistle followed by a yell of, "Fall back."

I lean on him as we walk over to Hyousuke's komodo rhino. The half of the village closest to me is a wreck. Although it looks like the top half has mostly escaped unscathed. Kouki, Akio and Katsu have moved out from the alleys they were sheltering in and are making their way down the street towards us. They look dusty and sore but not seriously injured. Isuma is following behind them on his komodo rhino.

Hyousuke and Tadaaki help me into the komodo rhino's saddle behind Hyousuke. As Tadaaki climbs on the Komodo Rhino behind me I watch for any sign my men are going to be attacked as they leave. It doesn't seem likely. The first warrior that attacked me is warily but quickly making her way from near the fences on our left back to the village proper. The second warrior that attacked me has already vanished back into the village.

I can hear the sound of children crying and grimace. I would like to stay and make sure none of the villagers are seriously injured but it would likely just end in a fight. Best we leave now so they can focus on treating the injured and dealing with the property damage.

Kouki has mounted the komodo rhino with Isuma by the time they reach us so they just nod and continue out the gate. Hyousuke passes Katsu his komodo rhino's reins. As Akio mounts the komodo rhino behind Katsu Hyousuke steers our komodo rhino out the gate.

We trudge back to our ship, tired and sore, with forming bruises and some scrapes, not triumphant but alive, without serious injuries and with unassailable evidence that Aang truly is the Avatar. Behind us the air bison takes to the skies.

Uncle Iroh and Lieutenant Jee greet us with worry and great relief. Behind them is the ship's medic. _Guess at least some of the Avatar State was visible from here._ Tadaaki slides of the komodo rhino and helps me down.

Immediately Uncle is hovering in front of me, "Are you alright nephew? Are you injured?"

I cut him off, "Just bruised. Uncle, I'm fine." I look to the medic, "I don't think we took anything worse than bruises, scrapes and a few strains but," I look back at my men who are now all dismounted as the komodo rhinos are led away, "we will all be checked over."

#

Leaning against the watch-deck's railings I gaze at the sunset trying to settle my turbulent thoughts. _Aang is the Avatar. I have found the Avatar. The Avatar is _twelve_._

Searching for anything to distract myself I notice Akio sitting against the railing half way down the front of the main deck with his Magby and Elekid in front of him. They seem to discussing something quite seriously. Curious and relieved a distraction has presented itself I head inside, down the command tower and onto the main deck.

Akio looks up at me when I am a few feet away and gives a half-hearted smile. He has removed his armour leaving him in the grey underclothes. _To an outsider he wouldn't look like a soldier, just a tired young man. But then outsiders don't think about how under those terrifying masks and firebending there are men just like them. 15 year olds who voluntarily became soldiers to make their nation and their family proud then found out that war was not the glorious thing they had been told._

"You seemed to be discussing something very intently?" I ask, with a small smile and a tone of light curiosity. This not a formal question from his prince and commander but a casual question from a friend. By now my men know that when we are unobserved and not on duty I do not require them to treat me with the respectful obedience of inferior to superior.

"Well, it's not like it's going to be a secret." a wry smile on his lips as he shrugs a shoulder, "Magby and Elekid are considering evolving."

I blink. _Akio's two Pokémon have always opposed evolving and he has always refused to try and force them. It is a large part of the reason he was transferred to my ship. He's a good firebender and a competent soldier but his 'sentimentality' frustrated his previous commanders._ I look to his Pokémon, who nod, backing up his statement.

"That's surprising." I pause considering what to say next because it truly is a surprising piece of information. _I've talked to Akio about this before and he's always been very firm on the fact that his Pokemon are _happy_ in their current form and do _not_ want to evolve and he will _not_ force them to evolve. I honestly think he half expected me strike him or perhaps challenge him to a fire duel when he first told me. He was very surprise when I approved of him respecting his Pokémon's choices instead._ "Was there something in particular that prompted this change of heart?"

I watch him hesitate, considering whether to answer my question or not. He looks to his Pokémon, Elekid lifts one arm and Magby tilts his head to the side. He's quiet for another moment and when he speaks, it is in a soft, unsure tone, "We've never been so helpless before."

He touches Elekid's arm, not looking at me. "When the Avatar State activated…I was terrified. That power. There was nothing I could do. I was…helpless, defenceless, cowering from it." he looks at me, "I could have died. I could have _watched him kill you_… and I wouldn't have been able to do a thing to stop it." He curls an arm around Magby as the red Pokémon leans against him. "We were too weak to fight him."

He sits up straighter, Elekid and Magby pressing against him and looks me in the eyes, expression utterly serious, "We want, we need to be stronger. Maybe we will never be able to fight the Avatar but we never want to face anyone else and be that helpless. The world is at war, you have found the Avatar and we refuse to be anything less than strong enough to fight by your side."

"Elekid and Magby will evolve. They will train and next time we face the Avatar we will be stronger."

I stare. Blinking rapidly, I avert my eyes for a moment then lean forward, looking at them and clasp Akio on the shoulder. "Alright." My voice doesn't waver as I reach brush hands with Magby and Elekid. "We will train together tomorrow. By the time we face combat again you will be confident in your new bodies and how it affects your fighting style." I pause, "That is assuming you will be evolved and ready by tomorrow? We can start the training later if you need some time."

Akio smiles, "I think tomorrow will be good Zuko."

He stands, clasps me on the shoulder and says still smiling, "I think I will go to bed now." Magby and Elekid hug me around my waist and I awkwardly I pat them each on the head. "Goodnight Zuko."

"Goodnight Akio." I replying automatically, watching the three of them head inside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avatar is the Bridge between the Material World and the Spirit World. (So why is Zuko doing his job?)

_(The Winter Solstice Part 1: The Spirit World)_

Day 30

"Uncle. It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!" as I push my way through a thicket of bamboo following Growlithe into a clear area. _Normally I indulged my Uncle's vacationing habits with only mild irritation because he didn't have leave with me when I was banished but not today._

"Over here." I find him relaxing in a softly steaming spring.

"Uncle? We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail." _Which is the reason I should be impatient and excited. The Avatar is my way home._

"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles." I roll my eyes at my Uncle's advice. On rare occasions in the past I have given in to his efforts to get me to relax but not this time. _And if I truly needed to relax, I'd find somewhere isolated and safe to Call my Pokémon for no other reason than their company._

More seriously I reveal the actual reason for my urgency, "I've heard there is be a Spirit attacking a village." _The Avatar should be my priority but I've spent almost three years chasing every-spirit tale I come across._ "Hot springs are nice Uncle but people are dying and it is only likely to get worse the closer to the Solstice we get. We need to go now." _Anyway the Avatar is supposed to be the bridge between humans and Spirits; perhaps if we go to a place where the balance between the two has been disturbed he will turn up._

"Very well." Iroh acknowledges, standing up, naked in the hot spring.

I groan, shielding my eyes from the sight of more nude flesh then I want to see. Turning I stare away from my Uncle as he dresses and consider the information I have._ One of my soldiers was approached as he was asking about unusual events. The civilian who had approached him said that they had heard Senlin Village was being attacked by a Spirit. Apparently a citizen of the Senlin Village had fled to stay with a cousin in the same village as the civilian is from. At the time that they had fled two attacks had happened at sunset, both resulting in destruction and a villager being taken. They arrived in their cousin's village yesterday around midday. This civilian doesn't live in this town, they are here trading, but apparently they've heard rumours about the ship. About a Fire Nation ship that doesn't fly the Fire Nation flag, that doesn't attack unless attacked first and that follows a flame-scarred boy who chases strange things and fixes them. So they decided to tell my soldier about what was happening when they noticed him asking around. If this information is all correct then Senlin Village should have been attacked 3 times by now and will be attacked again tonight._

_I need to be there _today_. Now is late morning, I want to be in Senlin Village by noon. That would give me time to investigate and if necessary leave the village before sunset. _I set off back to my ship with Uncle and Growlithe. _Who should I bring with me? I am _not_ bringing Uncle. Yes, he knows an unusual amount about the Spirit World but I am not risking him and in any case I have _practice_ dealing with spirits. Not to mention the number of spirit-tales I listened to or read about while investigating the Avatar._

_Refusing to bring him will mean that I have to bring some of my soldiers. He will just follow me otherwise. Tadaaki and Hyousuke. They trust me implicitly and have been with me for most of my Banishment. They know how weird things can get and they won't panic. I don't want to bring any animals with me so that means using Pokémon as mounts. Fast Pokémon. We won't get there as fast as I want on foot. Tadaaki has Rapidash but neither Hyousuke or I have land-travel Pokémon. Which means we will need to bring someone else who does._

"Uncle, you're staying with the ship while I am gone in case anything unexpected happens." _Kouki. He has Zebstrika and another firebender when going to deal with a probably hostile spirit isn't a bad idea._ I glare at Uncle as he opens his mouth to protest. "No, I know you will insist I don't go alone, so I will take Kouki, Tadaaki and Hyousuke but _you_ will stay to look after my men and my ship."

_And for my men to look after you._ Growlithe following behind I stride off to collect my escort, ignoring my Uncle's protests. _We too close to areas where Earth Kingdom soldiers patrol. Capturing or killing the Dragon of the West would be a prize for any soldier that could manage it._

#

Arms curled around Tadaaki I frown at the large burnt out stretch of forest we are riding over. _That looks recent. If it was started by humans then my bet is on furious nature-Spirit._

I press myself closer to Tadaaki has we pass out of the burnt area and into a still flourishing forest. Rapidash slows to a stop as the village walls came into view. _It's remarkable just how fast Rapidash and Zebstrika can travel even with riders when they simply run._

Dismounting I look at look at the village. It seems fairly standard for the Earth Kingdom with large earth walls forming straight lines that conceal the houses within. Kouki and Tadaaki Recall their Pokémon as the four of us walk towards the village. _We're not exactly trying to conceal the fact that we are Fire Nation; it is too likely that we will have to use our bending or our Pokémon, but we are not advertising it either. We left our armour behind on the ship, wearing the grey-brown military issue underclothes instead. All of us are openly armed. It tempting to bring my duel swords but that is a I skill I keep very quiet so instead I have the dagger Uncle gave me years ago, a few throwing knives and a spear. Not my preferred weapon but one I have a basic competence in._

The gates are open and no-one appeared to be guarding them so we simply walk in. Immediately damage is visible in the form of broken houses but more than that the village, is quiet, still, seemingly deserted. Besides from the recent damage it looks like a reasonably large and prosperous village so the utter absent of people was disconcerting. We head straight towards the large green building at on the opposite side to the gate's wall. _If anyone is still here, that's where they will be._

I knock on the door frame. "Hello? We heard this village is being attacked by a spirit."

The door opens and a square jawed man with light brown hair bound up in a top-knot looks at us warily. "You have heard correctly…?" he asks, eyeing our weapons.

I cut straight to the point, skipping the implied question of who we are, "We investigate strange events, spirits, rogue benders, unusual wild Pokémon and such. We heard about the attacks on your village and came to see if we could help." seeing that he is listening I continue, "I can't guarantee that we will be able to help but we have experience and are willing to try."

After a moment, "If the spirit is still hostile by the time of the Solstice we won't be sticking around. I've done many inadvisable things, staying in range of an unreasonable spirit while the barriers between our world and the Spirit World are down is not one of them and I don't intend for it to become one. If that happens I would strongly recommend evacuating anyone who hasn't already fled."

The man still looks uneasy but less so then before and he let us into the building.

#

I'd spent over an hour questioning the village leader and everyone in the village hall from, young women to children, to collect and compare the information each of them gives me but now I am fairly confident in my guess as to the nature of the spirit and what had set it off. _The question is, how does one go about calming an enraged Forest Spirit who has had its home burnt down?_

_We need to see what can be done to heal the forest and to find the totem figure of the Hei Bai if possible. And we need to do both these things before sunset. _Walking out of the village with my escort inspect to the forest I grimace at the last challenge. _And then we need to convince the enraged forest spirit to listen to a _firebending_ human for long to calm it down._

_Well priorities. Some of our Pokémon can look for the totem while see how the forest will recover._

"Kirlia, Roselia, Fletchinder, I ask for your aid." I Call. White light flares in front of me, two spots on the ground and one in the air.

"Fletchinder, please take a look around. If you can find a statue, shrine or totem, that would be useful but otherwise give us an overhead few of anything unusual or potentially dangerous." My Pokémon acknowledges my request with a cry and sweep of wings that carried him higher.

" Roselia, if you could help as investigate the damaged area of the forest with particular attention to the cause of the damage, how recent it was and how well the forest will heal from it and regrow that could be appreciated." he bows his green spiked head, assenting to my request a soft "Rose."

"Kirlia," a rueful grin pulls at my mouth, "you probably know better than me what you should be looking for but please keep an eye out for gateways to the Spirit World and such Spirit related things."

#

_If we were going to leave then we would need to leave _now_._ The sun has started to set. My escort are quiet and serious. All of us are a little dusty with ash dirtying our boots but we've found what we were looking for. _A totem of the Hei Bai spirit; everything but explicit confirmation that the Hei Bai is a Forest Spirit that has made its home in and protects this forest and confirmation that the forest will regrow in time._

_A forest guardian is not a weak Spirit and this close to the Solstice it will be fully capable of interacting with the world. It will have Pokémon; many, many Pokémon, Grass and Bug Types are likely to be the majority but anything that can be found in a forest is possible and lots of different Pokémon of different Types like forests. We do_ not_ want this to be a fight. We _cannot _win a fight. Survive and escape one? Maybe but still not something I want to risky my soldiers' or my Pokémon's' lives on._

_No, what we need to do is draw the Spirit's focus for long enough to reason with it and in a non-aggressive enough way that it is in a state where it is willing to listen. _I turn to face my men before we re-enter the village, "What we are attempting is dangerous, may not work and is not of direct benefit to the Fire Nation. You are not obliged to stay. I will find no fault with you should you choose to leave."

Hyousuke laughs and Tadaaki shakes his head with a small smile. Kouki side eyes them but says, "Sir, you ask this _every time_ I think we've got the message by now. You won't order us unwillingly into danger but you don't have to. We follow you into it willing and knowingly."

"I have to give you that choice. I am doing this _because I think I should_ not because it is the Fire Lord's will. It would be dishonourable to force people into following me on a self-assigned mission." _And I could force them. I am not only their superior officer but a member of the Royal Family. A banished, disgraced member yes, but still a member and they are only common soldiers. Refusing an order from me is simply _not_ an option._

I Recall Kirlia, Roselia and Fletchinder as we cross the village gates. _We're not registered to Senlin Village's Wards. Flickering out of phase with this world as we cross the Ward edge isn't going to bother our Pokémon but there is no need to alarm the villages by setting off the Wards when we can just be polite and not dismiss our Pokémon before crossing the Ward edge._

Idly I Call Kirlia as we approach the village hall. Then I pause. I give the open window another look. Standing with their backs to the window are two people wearing Water Tribe blue. _Sokka and Katara. Looks like the world does have a sense of humour._

"…eaten by a spirit monster."

I enter the hall. "You're back." Senlin's leader sounds slightly surprise.

"I said I would be."

"Zuko!" Sokka cries drawing his boomerang.

I stare calmly back as my men tense. "Sokka. Katara." my gaze drifts from face to face, "Aang."

Katara looks fierce and furious while Aang seems alarmed. I look at the flying lemur sitting on Aang's shoulder, "Take it you did find one in the Southern Air Temple then."

Aang blinks. "Yeah, this is Momo." He pets the flying lemar.

"What are _you _doing here." Katara demands hostility radiating from her.

"Yeah, how'd you find us?" Sokka, narrow eyed.

"I didn't." a languid shrug, projecting calmness as best I can "I heard that there was a village suffering from a Spirit attack and decided to investigate."

Katara snorts, disbelieving while Sokka looks sceptical.

The village headman carefully speaks up, "You know each other?"

"Yeah," Aang is cheerful again, "this is Zuko. He's been trying to capture me since he found out I'm the Avatar."

"Yes, but not today." I give them a dry look, "Trying to capture the Avatar while in a village about to be attacked by a hostile Spirit is stupid."

"Really?" Katara snipes, "You were perfectly fine with attacking Kyoshi Island to try and capture Aang."

"I would have preferred not to but by hiding there you gave me no choice." I dismiss the topic with a sharp wave, "The important thing right now is Hei Bai. Sunset is soon and the Spirit will attack then. I have a plan-"

"Kir!" my Kirlia cries out in sharp objection. He moves from my side to stand between me and the Avatar.

"You don't want me use my plan to deal with the Hei Bai spirit?"

"Kir." He agrees.

"Why?" I arch my eyebrow. "You approved of my plan before we returned to the village. Wh-no, the Avatar. You don't want me to use my plan because the Avatar is here."

"Kirlia" he croon nodding.

I stare. _Why does the Avatar's presence mean I shouldn't use my plan? If anything his cooperate would make it my plan work more easily. It has to be something._ "Dealing with the Spirits is the Avatar's job?" Kirlia nods, projecting a feeling of approval/close.

"I shouldn't be doing the Avatar's job?" I ask very sceptically. He shrugs projecting kind-of-but-not-quite-what-I-meant. _Closer then._

I adjust the question, "I shouldn't be doing the Avatar's job for him?" "Kirlia!" he exclaims projecting strong agreement

"He's twelve." Flatly "Does he even know how to deal with a Spirit?" Kirlia stares projecting exactly-my-point. "Ah." _That's a good point. The Hei Bai spirit might be dangerous but he is not one of the Great Spirits, or a malicious spirit nor should this problem be overly difficult to figure out and solve._

"The Avatar is the bridge between Spirits and humans; it is his job to seek solutions when they come into conflict. This is a duty his _must_ be capable of fulfilling and to do so he needs experience."

"Lia, Lia!" Kirlia twirls back to my side and leans against me. I sigh. "Avatar. You try and deal with the Hei Bai spirit tonight. Should you fail I will attempt to do so tomorrow."

"Great." Sarcasm is thick in Sokka's voice, "are you really not going to help out?"

"Sokka!" Katara glares. "Aang doesn't need _their_ help."

"No. I am not going to help." I look directly at Aang. "Kirlia makes a good point, you are the Avatar and you must be able to successfully deal with Spirits alone because there are times you will have no other choice."

"Yeah." Katara with narrow eyes, "And how do we know you're not just waiting until Aang is tired to capture him."

I glare back torn between offense and grudging approval. "I swear on my honour that I will not attempt to capture the Avatar or his companions while they attempt to calm the Spirit Hei Bai that is threatening the Village of Senlin nor if they are successful in doing so will I attempt to do so for one hour after they have solved the problem." I cross my arms. "Good enough?"

Katara looks like she's tempted to argue further but Aang beams and after a moment Sokka nods and puts away his boomerang. "You should ready your plan to deal with Hei Bai Avatar. The sun sets soon."

Everyone looks outside except for my fellow firebenders. I walk towards a shuttered window. _I might be going to let the Avatar deal with Hei Bai but that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch._

#

Leaning against the opened window I give Kirlia, perched on the sill a deeply sceptical look. He just swings his legs and pretends to ignore me. I go back to watching Aang.

He is walking towards us. Apparently he thinks he's dealt with Hei Bai already. I snort. _As if dealing with a Spirit would be as easy as saying say a few words and spinning a staff._

_There._ I still but for steady, deep breathes as the black and white Spirit materializes by the village gate. It's massive, six limbed with a disproportionally sized head but utterly silent as it moves.

The airbender doesn't notice it straight away. When he does he turns and says something to the Spirit. Obviously not something the Spirit is interested in hearing as it interrupts him with a blast of blue sound waves from its mouth. _Doesn't look like the attack harmed Aang._

_No Pokémon Called yet even if buildings are being smashed. __That Spirit is _fast_. _I grimace as a building disintegrated in a scream of light. _And very angry. Good thing all the villagers are gathered here._

I glance at Kirlia but he is just watching. _Oh, there goes another building. It's going to be expensive for the Senlin village to do repairs._ I pinch the bridge of my nose. _Tell me he didn't just try and command Hei Bai. Being the Avatar doesn't mean that Spirits will obey you, it is truly unsurprising that the Spirit struck you for trying._

_That's not a good idea Sokka._ I tense looking to Kirlia but he shakes his head firmly projecting denial. _Honestly not sure if Hei Bai even noticed that you tried to attack him. You should have tried using a Pokémon instead of your boomerang. Pokémon have a higher chance in combat against Spirits then direct attacks by humans. Not a good chance against a Spirit this enraged but a Pokémon's attack may have at least been noticed. _I wince as the Spirit grabs Sokka._ It might not have noticed the boomerang but it definitely noticed you talking to Aang._

"Hei Bai is taking people to the Spirit World not killing them, yes?" I murmur. _I have to be sure. Letting someone be kidnapped is one thing, letting them be killed is another._ Kirlia dips his head projecting agreement-assurance.

_So what are the changes that any of those three will return tonight? _Aang has flown out the gate after the Spirit and Sokka. _5% chance of Sokka or the Hei Bai returning, 50% chance of Aang returning._ Huff._ Aang better learn what ever Avatar spiritual thing he needs to learn. I am not watching such a terrible attempt again tomorrow night without interfering._

I look at Katara standing fearfully by the gate then turns and start considering who will get assigned to which watch as we sleep.

#

Day 31

As the sun rises I wake. _No one woke me in the night so the situation hasn't changed then._

Pulling a ration out of my small pack I consider what to do today. _Hei Bai won't return until sunset. Assuming that Sokka and the Avatar are in the Spirit World there isn't much I can do until then. Probably best to avoid Katara today._

I Call Fletchinder. "Could you fly along the path to the statue we found yesterday and see if you can find exactly what happened to the three of them?"

"Fletchinder." he trills her agreement and takes off, flying out one of a window towards the west.

Eating my food I sit and consider. _We need to conserve our energy for tonight. But some light training together to make sure that we are prepared in case we have to fight the Hei Bai Spirit and their Chi-Bonded Pokémon would be a good idea. Helps keep the anxiety of waiting down too. I should have Fletchinder return to the ship too, so that they know we are alright._

I had taken first watch with Hyousuke taking fourth watch so we are all wake now. _Firebenders rise with the sun and all._ The three have finished eating and are now waiting to hear my plans for the day.

"Seeing as we have the time I think it is best if we let our Pokémon familiarize themselves with the battlefield and their team mates." Noting the slightly curious look on Kouki's face I elaborate a little, "If we had ended up fighting yesterday I am sure we would have done well. Our Pokémon are used to each other and we had time to explain what we were planning to them but it is always helpful if they can examine where they will be fighting before they fight. And while our Pokémon are used to training together, there is a difference between general training and a fight where particular roles are assigned to certain Pokémon."

"It also gives us time to overlook the area for unexpected pitfalls." I grimace, "If it comes down to a fight the last thing we want is for someone to trip over some shattered timbers."

#

The Avatar returned a little before sunset without Sokka and had a touching reunion Katara. Yesterday I had said I would let the Avatar attempt to deal with the Spirit first and if he failed I would try. I intend to follow through.

I stand five paces from the village gate with Kirlia and Roselia besides me. They are not the Pokémon I would choose to fight a forest Spirit but that's because they're not here to fight.

Tadaaki and Bulbasaur are ten paces behind me to my left. Kouki and Sunflora are ten paces behind me to my right.

Hyousuke and Durant are standing guard 5 paces in front of the village hall. They will keep anyone from interfering.

As a firebender I can feel the sun setting but it is Kirlia who notices the Spirit first. A projected feeling of _alertness_ sweeps across us, the brush of a foreign mind against our own. The feeling of a Psychic Type Pokémon's mental projects is similar in in some aspects to the sensations that one gets from a Chi-Bond but very different at the same time. A Chi-Bond is natural, intuitive, a comfortably familiar presence while the mental-projection of a Pokémon's powers feels undeniably alien. None of us would mistake Kirlia's warning for something else.

"Hear me," I can see Hei Bai now emerging from the night, "spirit of this forest. It is true that your forest has burned but it is also true that the forest will grow back."

I lift one hand towards the spirit, acorns that our Pokémon had checked were living and healthy, resting on my palm. The Spirit lowers its head to look. _Breathe._ _Now is not the time to flinch._ _Regardless of if I would survive the blue light of the spirit's screaming attack…those teeth are sharp and its head large enough to bite me in half or perhaps even swallow me whole._

"From the ashes the seeds of new life will grow." Somehow my voice is steady and calm. "What you are doing now, attacking these villagers, does not help the forest."

Carefully, respectfully, I place the acorns on the ground in front of me. A shimmer of white light and a humanoid, wooden Pokémon of about a meter's height with a green leaf growing from its head appears. _Nuzleaf, a Grass/Dark Type, evolution of Seedet, capable of evolving into Shiftry._ The Pokémon picks up the acorns while the Spirit's form wavers and shifts.

I relax. In the place of the massive six limbed black and white Spirit is a panda shaped Spirit. They are both Hei Bai, but the monstrous form was that of the forest Spirit's rage, this panda form is the normal, peaceful form of the forest Spirit.

The panda Spirit ambles towards the gate. "Rose." Roselia steps in front of me, inquiring. The Hei Bai's Pokémon pauses and nods, "Nuz."

As Hei Bai vanishes back into the Spirit World a bamboo thicket grows. From within the bamboo four people emerge.

"Sokka!" Katara cries, the sound of running footsteps behind me.

I move aside. My soldiers make their way over to me as separated loved ones reunite.

"What happened?"

"You were trapped in the Spirit World for 24 hours! How are you feeling?"

"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom." A cough of laughter escapes me at the unexpected answer.

Aang moves next to the reunited siblings, fiddling with his staff, "I'm really sorry Sokka."

I move away, towards Senlin Village's leader as he approaches me. "Thank you, young man. If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done. We are in your debt."

I nod, acknowledging the seriousness of his words, "I am glad that I was able to help. I did not aid you for repayment but if you feel like this is a debt you must settle then I will remember Senlin village should I am ever be in need of aid."

I hesitate for a moment, glancing at my Pokémon who both give almost unnoticeable nods, "My name is Zuko, Son of Ursa and Ozai, banished prince of the Fire Nation."

I see the widen eyes, the sudden pallor before he musters himself and bows. "An honour to meet you, Prince Zuko."

I let a wry smile soften my features, "You don't need to bow. I merely thought you should be aware of whom you are offering a debt to."

There is hesitation on his face when he straightens, a hint of fear. He looks at the three villagers returned from the Spirit World then at me, nods slightly lips pressed together and resolved, "We owe you a debt regardless of who you are. You are _welcome_ in Senlin Village, Prince Zuko."

I give a small bow of gratitude and acknowledgment feeling a smile curving my lips. _That's the village safe. Now I have to deal with the Avatar._


	5. Chapter 5

_(The Winter Solstice Part 2 Avatar Roku)_

I've talked with the three villages who were taken by Hei Bai and they all seem like they will be okay. Nothing else needs my attention so indicating for my soldiers to stay back I approach the Avatar and his companions.

"Avatar," I stop at a distance close enough for conversation but far enough to seem mostly unthreatening. "Considering that if you do something dumb that enrages a more powerful Spirit it could have disastrous effects on everyone I consider it in the best interest of the Fire Nation to tell you where you went wrong with Hei Bai."

Sokka is thoughtful while Aang is eager. "Firstly, not even the Avatar can command Spirits. You can negotiate and reason with them but commanding them is very unlikely to work and may just make the situation worse. Secondly if you have the opportunity to research a Spirit before confronting it then you should do so. Thirdly, attempt to find out what sort of Spirit it is that you are facing. Fourthly, see if anything as changed in the area nearby that may have triggered the Spirit's change in behaviour. Fifthly, always be polite and respectful."

Aang looks like he's trying to commit my quick lesson to memory. "Now, I think you should be leaving."

They look at me in surprise. "This is a bad place to fight you. So unless you surrender or force me to fight you I will allow you to leave." I arch my eyebrow and sharpen my tone. "Go!"

There is a moment's pause were I think they might argue then they are scrambling to leave. I watch them mount the Sky Bison and idly ask, "So, do we know where they are going next?"

"It sounded like Crescent Island, sir." Hyousuke sounds slightly puzzled. I give him an approving smile for taking the initiative to do some tactical ears-dropping and listen to his report. "The Avatar said he could speak with Avatar Roku if he went to a temple on a crescent-shaped island in the Fire Nation on the solstice."

"Hmm. Good work." I Call Fletchinder. "Follow the Avatar's Bison." I nod at the Sky Bison flying west. "Try not to be seen."

Watching Fletchinder climb high into the sky I consider. _They looked tired and who knows how well they can navigate at night so they will probably stop to camp somewhere. We need to head back to the Ship. Fletchinder will make sure we don't miss them when they try an cross the Mo Ce Sea._

"We are heading back to the ship."

#

_Cutting it close aren't you._ I eye the Sky Bison flying overhead. _Given the Bison's speed they should arrive before sunset but they won't have much time for mistakes. On the other hand they wouldn't want to linger in the Fire Nation._

"You're not planning to sail into Fire Nation waters are you Prince Zuko?" my Uncle checks.

"Of course not." I glance at him. "You don't really think I'd risk my crew like that?" I turn my gaze back to the bison. "No, I've told the helmsman not to enter Fire Nation waters. We will try and catch the Avatar before his Bison enters the Fire Nation but this ship shall not follow if he passes into territories that I am banned from entering."

I grimace as the catapult is loaded. Luxio whines, "Luuuux." I pet him, silently apologizing for the terrible smell.

"Un, really Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" I ignore Uncle as he waves a fan in a futile attempt to direct the stench away from his nose.

"On my mark!" A single fire punch sets the projectile a fire. "Fire!"

The soldier besides the catapult slices the ropes. The flaming ball launches towards the target.

I indicate a second attempt should be made. Another projectile is loaded, set aflame and launched.

On the horizon a line of ships stretches. _This is as far as the ship goes. For now we are still in Earth Kingdom waters but continue forward._ "Helmsman! Turn and head back for Earth Kingdom." _And I wouldn't be surprised if they try to sink us. The Banished Prince caught in a catapult barrage aimed at the Avatar? It would be a convenient accident._

"Uncle." I stare in disappointment after the Avatar. "I will be in my room. I do not wish to be disturbed for the rest of the day."

Setting words into action I head for my room. _The helmsman knows the course I have set and my men know better than to disturb me when I ask for privacy._

Entering my room I close the door and quickly strip. From a hidden compartment of my chest I remove a blue and white theatre mask and manuvorable dark clothes. Dressed in my disguise I take down the duel Dao from where they are set on display. I make sure the water proof wrapping covers them completely. _Means I can't draw them straight away but it is worth having to unwrap them once I reach land to be sure that no sea-water rusts the blades or rots the hilts._

Carefully and stealthfully I make my way off the ship. Dropping into the ocean I Call for my Pokémon. In a soft white shimmer Chinchou appears, a round blue body with tiny fins and feet, big cross pupiled yellow eyes and two long antennae that curve from his back to in front of his face ending in round yellow orbs that glow softly.

Treading water I smile at my Pokémon and wrap one arm around his body. "Chou." He greets me and then starts to swim. Clinging to my Pokémon as he drags me though the water I eye the approaching blockade. _Hopefully they will be too distracted by the Avatar getting past them to look too closely in the water. And even if they do, we are quite small from this distance not to mention a strange sight. Still I wouldn't risk swimming past them in broad day light._

Relaxing I breathe in, out, wrap both arms securely around Chinchou and take a deep breath. _Dive._

Water rushes over me, presses against me. I keep my eyes shut, hold my breath and trust Chinchou.

Minutes pass. The urge to breath slowly grows stronger. I focus on nothing but keeping hold of Chinchou and not breathing. I'm a firebender and I've practiced this. Breath control is at least a quarter of firebending and my lung capacity is exceptional. The minutes stretch on.

Chinchou swims upwards and the pressure lets up. My face breeches the surface and I breathe in deeply. Opening my eyes I glance back, we are fully past the blockade. "Good work Chinchou."

I adjust my grip and Chinchou swims forward.

#

Hours later I wonder again why I am doing this. _Curiosity._ I glare at the sky above then look at the island we are approaching. _Crescent Island, location of a Fire Temple best known for being where Avatar Roku trained and housing his statue. Guarded by the Fire Sages and most certainly a part of the Fire Nation which means the Banished Prince Zuko can't set foot there without being executed._

The sky bison is lying on at the base of the stop bridge that leads up to the Fire Temple but that doesn't matter to me. Chinchou stops in the shallows rocky waters just outside of the islands wards.

I gather my will, my utter conviction that what I say is true and tell the Wards of Crescent Island, "My name is Zuko, Son of Ozai whom is the Fire Lord Ozai, and Son of Usra who is the Granddaughter of Avatar Roku. I belong here and so do my Pokémon."

_There is no way to tell if the Wards have accepted me or not._

Letting go of Chinchou I swim over to low rock and climbing on. Finding my footing I carefully stretching to loosen my muscles for the climb ahead of me. Reaching for my Chi-bonds I Recall Chinchou and Call Vibrava. The green four winged, four legged insect like Pokémon shimmers into existence hovering above me.

I flex my fingers, discreetly steaming the water out of my gloves and check that they aren't going to slip off as I climb. I make sure that my sword sheathe is securely attached across my back and look up at the rock face. _Not the easiest climb but not the worst either._

Vibrava keeps watch so I focus on the climb alone. Quick, efficient movements push off with my legs, use my arms to pull me up only when I have to.

It can't be more than ten minutes later that I am almost at the top of the island-hill. I cover the last distance swiftly, halting in a crouch against the Fire Temple's walls. Vibrava clings to the temple walls above me.

I spot an entrance into the temple. Glancing up at Vibrava once I shrug and Recall him. Next to me Riolu appears in a muted shimmer of white-light. I tilt my head at my chosen route into the temple. Riolu nods and darts forward. I follow each step as swift and silent as I can manage.

I can't afford to be seen but I want to know what is happening. Luckily places like this are full of secret tunnels and between Riolu and I we notice anyone approaching with easily enough time to hide. _The Fire Sages are in an uproar. So the Avatar and his companions are definitely in the Temple._ I make my way towards the sanctuary. It holds Avatar Roku's statue and I can't think of any other reason for the Avatar to be here. I pause for a moment -_was that an explosion?-_ and continue with a barely perceivable shrug.

Glance quickly into the room. The Avatar is slicing airbending at the door while the two Water Tribe stand next to him. Most interestingly is that there is a Fire Sage standing with them. _A traitor?_ Exchanging a look with Riolu I sneak into the room while the four are talking and distracted.

Watching the three hide I consider their plan from my own hiding place. _It's not a bad plan._ I eye the Avatar hiding near me and unaware of my presence as the other Fire Sages arrive. _I could grab him._

"Come quickly!" the traitor Fire Sage says, "The Avatar has entered the sanctuary!"

"How did he get in?" the old man I recognize as a Great Fire Sage asks.

"I don't know. But look at the scorch marks! And down there!" the traitor points at a shadow under the door.

"He's inside!" they've convinced the Great Fire Sage, "Open the doors, immediately! Before he contacts Avatar Roku."

_I _could _grab him. It would be easy. _I watch Aang move into position as the Fire Sages use their Firebending to open the doors. _But I won't. I am here to figure out what's going on that as the Avatar coming into the Fire Nation so he can talk to his predecessor _not_ to capture the Avatar._

"It's the Avatar's lemur." The Great Fire Sage exclaims. "He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!"

I smirk behind my mask as the lemur leaps onto the Great Fire Sage's head, clinging to his hat. The water tribe girl charges out of hiding and pulls a sage's tunic over his head. The water tribe boy grabs a sage's skirt and lifts it over his body to cover his face. He then grabs and pins the last sage, "Now, Aang!"

The airbender sprints out of his hiding place and right through the open doors. I can see Aang stand, staring up at the statue of Avatar Roku, then the doors shut themselves and flash with white light.


End file.
